


Hope

by Random_Inked_Thoughts



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Death Fix, Crying, F/M, Fighting, Fluff and Angst, Hope, Hopeful Ending, Love, Love Confessions, Murphy Being an Asshole, Murphy is a Little Shit, POV 10k, Tribute, blend Cassandra, fix
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 17:06:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,704
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15466068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Random_Inked_Thoughts/pseuds/Random_Inked_Thoughts
Summary: 10k stumbled back a step, tripping over his own feet, horror clear in his eyes. Cassandra moved with a kind of nightmarish grace, snarling all the while, too fast for him. Too fast for anyone. And that look in her eyes… He hated to admit it, but it broke his heart.What if 10 never needed to kill Cassandra?TRIBUTE





	Hope

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, and thanks for clicking on my fic! Some things you should know-
> 
> 1\. I am only up to season 3 in Z nation.  
> 2\. This is my first work for Z nation. (I usually write SPN fics)  
> 3\. I understand to some extent that 10k technically has a girlfriend right now, but this is a tribute to my first Z nation ship.  
> 4\. I've shipped these two since "You have a finger in your hair."
> 
> Enjoy!

10k stumbled back a step, tripping over his own feet, horror clear in his eyes. Cassandra moved with a kind of nightmarish grace, snarling all the while, too fast for him. Too fast for anyone. And that look in her eyes… He hated to admit it, but it broke his heart.

 

“Cassandra…” Her name was barely a whisper upon his lips, but her head jerked, and her eyes met his. They were clouded and bloodshot, in stark contrast to her warm, soft, brown eyes. Eyes that he had always adored, no matter how bloody and dirty she was. He could see them now, the way she was before the bite, before Murphy made her his personal puppet. They were full of compassion, and most importantly, full of life. He could still picture her smile in his mind, her whole face lighting up as she burst out laughing. He could remember her long hair bouncing around her shoulders as she ran next to him. Her hair was longer and more unkempt now, but he supposed that Murphy didn’t care much for her hair.

 

_This is not Cassandra._

 

This was the fact that was going to get him through this. Cassandra would never hurt him. Therefore, this simply could not be Cassandra.

 

“Please,” he whispered softly as she landed on top of him, her mouth open and snarling, her fingernails like claws, raking across his skin, her eyes feral.

 

“Nobody leaves.” It was those same hissed words, though in his struggles, he could barely hear them.

 

“Cassandra, are you in there?” He cried out, distraught, as he rolled over her, now struggling to keep her pinned to the ground as she struggled like a cornered animal. “Cassandra, please!” His voice broke slightly. He closed his eyes briefly in pain as blood trickled down his face and she kneed him in the stomach. “I love you.” It came out in a hiss of pain, soft and vulnerable, in a moment of his own weakness.

 

She was back on top of him now, and he thought she didn’t hear him at first, or that even worse, she didn’t care. A droplet fell on his face, and he blinked in surprise. He hadn’t drawn any blood from her yet that he had known of. Then, as he looked up, he saw tears silently streaming down her face, and onto his. “N- nobody leaves,” Her voice crackled with emotions as she repeated those same words once more, shaking with barely controlled sadness.

 

“Cassandra?” He whispered, hope rekindling itself within his chest. “Can you hear me? I love you.” He hadn’t thought he’d ever say those words to anyone again, after his father died, but as he repeated it, he realized that he meant every syllable, and he had known from the beginning. Her fingers moved to wrap themselves around his neck, cutting off his oxygen.

 

_“Excuse me, miss, you have a finger in your hair.”_

 

More tears made their way down her cheeks, brimming in her clouded eyes. She shook him a little harder. “Don’t leave.” Her grip did not loosen, and his fingers scrambled futilely around the edges of her fingers, trying his best to remove them.

 

“I won’t,” He gasped out, his thoughts becoming clouded. “I’ll stay, I promise.” His fingers moved weakly to cup her face instead, ignoring the increasing pain in his neck and back, as the hard rocks on the ground dug up into him. “Cassandra-” He moved his thumb, swiping away another tear threatening to trickle down her cheek.

 

“Don’t leave me-” And then she was collapsing, collapsing onto his chest, and her fingers were digging into his hair, and she was whispering it over and over, into his skin. _Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me. Don’t leave me._ Her whole body was shaking now with sobs, her one hand still resting weakly on his throat, Murphy’s command still holding some sway over her.

 

“I’m not leaving, I’m not leaving you,” he breathed, hugging her back, the way he had when he found that she was still alive, when he didn’t realize what she had become. He hugged her like there was no tomorrow, and, since they were in the middle of the apocalypse, there might not be. “Cassandra.”

 

And then the moment was passed. Her eyes began to cloud over again, her movements becoming more twitchy, her expression more guarded. 10k pushed her away, and though his heart throbbed painfully in his chest as he did so, there was hope there as well. She wasn’t just his puppet. There was hope for them, for _her_.

 

By the time that he had scrambled few feet away, she had reverted back to her previous state almost completely, her brain functions lessening, and she became puppet like once again. A low growling began in the back of her throat, and 10k’s hands went up almost immediately. “I’m not leaving you!”

 

She sat back into her strange squat hunch thing, watching him with satisfaction in her eyes. She seemed to have forgotten about the others, 10k noticed in relief. _Run, guys._ He could hear trekking through the forest, and Warren and Vasquez reappeared, stumbling through the undergrowth, clinging to Addy and Doc and looking confused.

 

“10k! We heard a struggle! What’s going on?” Warren called out, and 10k’s blood went cold, though he kept his face passive as he gestured them over.

 

“No one’s leaving, that’s the important part.” He shot Cassandra a quick glance, but she seemed to simply be watching them with wary eyes. Murphy never said anything about other people joining them. Then, he noticed how Vasquez winced as he sat down, and how Warren’s face wrinkled briefly in pain as she did the same. “Were you guys injured?” He asked, concerned.

 

“Gunfire. Would have been real great if someone helped us out a few minutes sooner.” Warren hissed, before leaning forward, whispering. “What happened? Why are you all bloodied up?”

 

10k shrugged as best he could. “I had a fight.”

 

“Dang, kid!” Doc exclaimed. “You did ok then!”

 

“With who?” Then, Warren’s eyes widened as she glanced back at Cassandra. “No…”

 

“It was the only way to get someone out there looking for Murphy.” 10k shrugged apologetically.

 

“Well, we didn’t find Murphy, but we did stumble upon these two just in time to help them out.” Addy smiled slightly, glancing back at Cassandra as well, whose eyes were following them suspiciously. “Well, almost just in time.”

 

“What happened?” Doc leaned into the center of the circle, looking excited. “Did she kick your butt?”

 

10k shook his head, thinking back to their fight. The tears, the forced words, the sheer _control_ Murphy had over it all, and he didn’t even know. He fought back the urge to scream out of anger and frustration.

 

There was the sound of leaves crackling, and Murphy reappeared, stomping through the undergrowth. “Hi guys, what did I miss?” Cassandra was at his side in an instant.

 

10k was standing up then. “You sentenced her on us. Like an attack dog.” His words were boldly spoken, but his voice shook with emotion. _Breathe._ Emotion wouldn’t help anything.

 

“Well, I see you stayed, even got Roberta and Vasquez back.” Murphy smiled good naturedly, his light tone unmatching for the situation.

 

And then 10k was walking briskly towards him, his face set in anger. Cassandra was moving into his path, but he gently pushed her away, and she just stood there, unsure of how to proceed, of why she didn’t proceed, snarling.

 

“Hey, how did you-?” Murphy started, glancing at Cassandra, and 10k’s arm pinned him across his chest to the tree. “Hey, kid! Get off me! Cassandra, help me!”

 

“Do you even care?”

 

“Excuse me?” Murphy looked to the group, standing with their arms crossed, in various states of anger and confusion. “Are you just going to let this happen? Your package is in danger here!”

 

“I said, do you even care? Cassandra is a living, breathing person, do you even care that you made her your puppet when you bit her? Do you even care that you’ve taken someone’s life away from them?” 10k spat out. “Do you even care how she feels?”

 

“Woah, no need to overreact! I get it.” Murphy smiled weakly. “You want some action, and I guess I could be better at sharing-”

 

He never even saw 10k’s fist coming.

 

There were various calls for him as he stormed away, fist throbbing, and shoulders shaking with the effort to keep his composure intact.

 

“Hey, kid! Come back!”  
  
“10k! Don’t walk away!”

 

“Murphy, you stay right there.”

 

“”Kid!”

 

“Cassandra, stay over here!”

 

As soon as he was through the miscellaneous shrubbery, out of view, and out of range to be heard, 10k slumped down underneath a tree. He allowed himself a small moment of silence.

 

Footsteps.

 

His head shot up, his hands fumbling for his slingshot. He had left his gun at camp.Quickly, he loaded a small gear, pulling it back and up to shoot at-

 

Cassandra was walking through the undergrowth.

 

_Oh, it’s just you._

 

10k lowered his weapon, keeping his face passive. He nodded next to him, an offer. Cassandra took it, tentatively sitting down next to him, and snuggling into his shoulder a little. “Thank you.”

 

It was a breathy whisper, but he could still hear it. He just snuggled a little closer to her in response. “We’ll figure something out,” he whispered back.

 

By the time that Warren found them, they were both fast asleep, curled protectively around each other. 10k was snoring softly, and Cassandra’s eyes were closed in a dreamless sleep.

 

Warren found herself smiling, for no reason in particular. Those two had always been close, but it seemed, that even in the middle of the apocalypse, when all else had failed, even with the odds stacked firmly against them, those two had found hope in one another. She didn’t know how they did it. As soon as 10k had ran off, something had seemed to snap in Cassandra. Warren could have sworn that she saw something in those eyes of hers, something almost… human.

 

Best to let them rest. They had a long and difficult road ahead of them.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my story! Please, let me know what you thought with comments and kudos, I practically live off of them! Should I continue it? I'm not sure. With that, have a lovely day!


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